Usonian | On our weeklong trip around Wisconsin we have visited a number of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. Today we stopped by the Herbert Jacobs house which was built in 1937. A very early version of his ‘everyman’ Usonian home its carport was complete with a classic 60’s Swedish sports-tourer Volvo P1800. The red car works superbly with the red brick and Cherokee red paving.
Bumblebee | My parents are enjoying a cruise around the Baltic this week. Their first port of call is the wonderful wonderful Danish city of Copenhagen. They sent this photo of the distinctive Nimbus motorcycle on display at a museum. The nimble and reliable in-line four 750cc engined workhorse became a staple mode of transportation for the Viking population. The Type C was introduced in 1934, when this model is from, and continued in very much this form until 1959. Its nickname was Humblebien (Bumblebee) due to a buzzing exhaust note.
Earth Day | What better way to go out there and explore what our planet has to offer and see how beautifully fragile our home rally is than on the back of a Tiger. For nearly a Century there have been sharp clawed Moto’s roaming the globe looking for earthly adventure.
bauhaus 100 | 2019 is the centenary of the formation of the influential German design school based in Weimar and later Dessau. As well as founder Walter Gropius and later directors Hannes Meyer and Mies Van der Rohe there were numerous staff and students who were allowed to develop creative talent in the manufacturing arts – .Gesamtkunstwerk (Total work of Art ). Here’s one such alumni Heinrich Brocksieper, who worked on photography, painting and animation, enjoying great German motorrad engineering of the day in front of the workshop block at the Dessau building.
“Heinrich Brocksieper auf seinem Motorrad vor dem Bauhaus Dessau, 1930, Originalfoto 64 x 41 cm © Nachlass Brocksieper, Hagen.”
ISDT | Motorcycle Racer extraordinaire Marjorie Cottle was a Force for women riders in the first half of the 20th Century. Here she is flying through a pre-war Austria in 1939 on a Triumph attempting to earn a gold medal in the arduous International Six Day Trials.
History notes:
Despite the worsening political situation in Europe the German organisers went ahead with the event, which saw 61 British competitors make the start. Marjorie Cottle, riding a 250 Triumph, formed part of the Sunbeam ‘A’ club team, the other members being Geoff Godber-Ford (350 Sunbeam) and A A Sanders (350 Triumph). The trial commenced as scheduled on Monday 21st August with a run into recently occupied Czechoslovakia but within a few days the British competitors were becoming increasingly concerned. On Friday 25th the recall telegram arrived from the War Office in London and the remaining British contingent, including Marjorie Cottle, was escorted to neutral Switzerland and safety. Britain and Germany were at war nine days later.
The Broons – every year growing up we’d have either an Oor Willie annual in our Christmas stocking or a Broons one. Beautifully pen & brush ink work by Dudley D. Watkins for DC Thompson they epitomized the straightforward Scottish character of the Twentieth Century.
Maw & Paw Broon with their eight children: Hen, Daphne, Joe, Maggie, Horace, the Twins and The Bairn. And Gran’paw too.
This is a great spread of the parents trying to get away for a peaceful weekend only to be overrun by their offspring and friends.
As they would declare: “Jings, Crivvens an’ help m’Boab!”
In the upper right Maggie rides in with one of her beaus (aplenty) .
Passage of Time – I’ve decided to clean up this blog a bit. By subscribing to the WordPress platform I eliminate the daft ads that appear at the bottom of the page and get a dedicated address. Put it in yer favorites for an occasional dabble down the rabbit hole of the 2,800 or so posts… that eight years worth…
Look out for further improvements in the New Year!
Industrial – A brick wall of the vintage commercial building that houses the Moto Museum is an appropriate backdrop for this 1936 CZ pre War Czechoslovakia military tool.
There are definite hints of period BMW’s in its frame lines and the somber color scheme would look in place along the cobbled streets of Prague.
Moto Museum Marques – a few of the European makes on show at the St Louis motorcycle museum. A varied collection of owner Steve Smith they represent a wide assortment of 7 decades of motorcycles. All in immaculate condition and room to wander around and get close up to them. More photos to show through the week!
Curate! A selection of the ‘special’ collection at the moto museum here in St Louis. All European marques from countries such as Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Belgium & Switzerland. We were given a private peek at them!
Sunny Smile – someone’s girlfriend sitting astride their pride and joy. Late Thirties Triumph Speed Twin 5T with girder forks, rigid rear end and only available in the luscious amaranth red. These were in production until the 14 November 1940 when the German bombing of Coventry led to the destruction of the Triumph factory. An order of thousands of military spec 5T’s were destroyed as well as all of Triumph’s technical records, drawings and designs. Post War an updated 5T helped rebuild Triumph to become the worldwide leader for another couple of decades.
White -The late thirties saw the creation of what is sometimes considered the most beautiful of American cars: The Cord 812. The visual brainchild of noted automobile designer Gordon Buehrig; its sleek lines, emphasized by flip-up headlights, hidden hinges, and the classic wraparound ‘coffin’ grill, had looks that heralded a bright future. Cutting his teeth as head bodywork designer for Duesenberg he stated that a large influence on his design ethos was architect Le Corbusier’s book “Towards a New Architecture”.
Jerry Can – the cunning folk at Icon 1000 have given this Tiger 800 a definite utilitarian brutish appeal. With a finish like machine pressed galvanized steel sheet, ready to roll through some dystopian military industrialized kingdom.
Art of the Motorcycle- prominent American artist Georgia O’Keeffe smiles as her Harley Davidson rider, contemporary painter Maurice Grosser, takes off along some dusty New Mexican trail looking for high desert inspiration.
Royalty – with the wedding of Harry & Meghan earlier today I thought I’d look at the Windsor’s and compare them with their corresponding Triumph. Queen Mother? Model H, old world classic, suitable for a day at the races. Prince Philip? A German TWN 2 Stroke – the European Triumph. QE2? Easy, a ’59 Bonnie; timeless classic. Princess Margaret? The racy Thruxton, Charles? The too-little-too-late Trophy 250.
William & Harry? The new Triumphs! 675 Daytona or T120 Bonneville. Next generation.
